Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

Beat Burnout: Strive for Sustainable Success

Reflections from Emilie Aries

Recap from the 2018 YLAI Fellows Closing Forum with Emilie Aries, Founder and CEO of Bossed Up

As a passionate and hard working young entrepreneur, it is easy to become overwhelmed by all of the task you want to achieve. Between daily operations and strategic planning in our businesses, we all risk burnout at every turn.

Emilie Aries, founder and CEO of Bossed Up, podcast host and author, discussed entrepreneurial burnout. She provided YLAI Network professionals with information on understanding burnout, tools and solutions for sustainable success, and resources that can be found on her website: bosssedup.org.

What is burnout?

A state of chronic stress such as physical and/or emotional exhaustion, detachment, and feeling of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment.

What are the three strategies for sustainable success?

Ditch the “martyr” mindset that self-sacrifice is the only recipe for success.

Work to eliminate stressful triggers and conditions.

Some work and life conditions that lead to stress from the YLAI Network audience are procrastination, perfectionism, balancing work and family life, lack of autonomy over their own work, deadlines, and traveling. Aries suggested the next time stress triggers arise, experiment with ignoring or changing the approach to the stressful condition.

Schedule time for rest and renewal as deliberately as scheduling work commitments.

YLAI believes healthy workers make for a healthier community! Take a look at YLAI for Health and Wellness on tips for incorporating healthy practices into everyday activities.

Q: What is your advice for interruptions throughout the work day?A: Try to hire an assistant or use an online program that stands between you and the customer. “I also don’t take meetings in the morning. I structure my day so I plan all of my meetings that are predictable only for the afternoon so I know first thing in the morning I do all of the hard work that requires more focused intention. You will have a little more freedom to concentrate on the interruptions later.”

Q: What are some tools for working through time management?A: Aries has a free download called the Bossed Up Life Tracker. It is about “taking long-term goals and using science to break them down and make them achievable in a way that is not overwhelming. “I also have a planner that is coming out this week that integrates (the Bossed Up Life Tracker) that takes your monthly goals and breaks them into weekly and daily goals.” Another helpful tool for entrepreneurs struggling with time management is to give yourself strategic rewards to be motivated to complete a task. Aries has a workshop named Bossed Up Bootcamp that discusses gender and decision-making for those interested in gaining holistic skills.

Q: I struggle with “mommy the martyr mindset”, what can I do so I am not solving every person’s problem for them?A: Aries has free webinars on her website that provide information on assertive communication. Aries asked the audience member “are you really helping that person become their own boss if we feel like have to do things for them all the time? Caring for someone can also turn into not letting that person care for themselves.”

Q: I struggle with aspirational planning and say yes to tasks I cannot complete by a specific time frame. How do I solve this issue?A: Aim to design a business for sustainable success. Redesign your work week or business by hiring a staff member or providing a customer with realistic goals for the completion of the project.